He went into ecstasies over her turn-up nose, her shrieks, her shrill laugh, her airs and graces, precisely all the things I so disliked in her.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

And a Generall Pardon also was read by the Lord Chancellor, and meddalls flung up and down by my Lord Cornwallis, of silver, but I could not come by any.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

Meanwhile at the Seneschal's bidding they had thrown into a heap bundles of heather, dry brushwood, and logs; the fire burst forth, and a grey pine tree of smoke grew up and spread out aloft like a canopy.
— from Pan Tadeusz Or, the Last Foray in Lithuania; a Story of Life Among Polish Gentlefolk in the Years 1811 and 1812 by Adam Mickiewicz

What shall we wish them, but sanam mentem , and a good physician?
— from The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

The queen's pious speech was pleasing unto all and a good part of the night being now past, they all, dismissed by her, betook them to repose.
— from The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio by Giovanni Boccaccio

Now perhaps if either of these be great, the gratitude is naturally strong: for the apprehension of great earnestness in another to serve us tends to draw from us a proportionate response of affection: and any great pleasure or relief from pain naturally produces a corresponding emotion of thankfulness to the man who has voluntarily caused this, even though his effort may have been slight.
— from The Methods of Ethics by Henry Sidgwick

It is therefore likely that the Censors and Pontiffs, when they had resolved to add a grand procession of knights to the other solemnities annually performed on the Ides of Quintilis, would call in the aid of a poet.
— from Lays of Ancient Rome by Macaulay, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron

I have promised to escort to the Académie a Greek princess of my acquaintance who has never seen your grand opera, and who relies on me to conduct her thither.”
— from The Count of Monte Cristo, Illustrated by Alexandre Dumas

He had been left at a good place to learn a trade, and for several months every thing worked well.
— from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself by Harriet A. (Harriet Ann) Jacobs

and in this, what is there not brittle, and full of perils? and by how many perils arrive we at a greater peril?
— from The Confessions of St. Augustine by Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo

I cannot tell what induced me to take my leave of the people in the west when I was last there, as it was so probable we should be detained; were it not for having bid them adieu, I believe I should pay them another visit—only that I could not do it without being with Lydia again, which might not perhaps answer any good purpose, and more probably would renew the pain.
— from Henry Martyn, Saint and Scholar First Modern Missionary to the Mohammedans, 1781-1812 by George Smith

In one corner stood a czymbal, in another a great pile of newspapers.
— from Villa Rubein, and Other Stories by John Galsworthy

OKRA SAUTÉ À LA CRÉOLE Chop fine an onion and a green pepper and fry soft in butter.
— from The Myrtle Reed Cook Book by Myrtle Reed

The boats, and the dresses, and the colours and forms of the buildings are all as good practice as anything I can fancy, and I shall not be sorry to have time on my hands for studying them at leisure.
— from Hurrell Froude: Memoranda and Comments by Louise Imogen Guiney

[139] secretly into the enemy's lines and at great personal risk,—and often after many thrilling adventures, if the story books are to be believed—brought back to his commanding officer news of the disposition of troops, etc., in the opposing camp.
— from The Romance of Aircraft by Laurence Yard Smith

And a great pleasure it was to see the Abbey raised in the middle, all covered with red, and a throne (that is a chair) and footstool on the top of it; and all the officers of all kinds, so much as the very fidlers, in red vests.
— from Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete 1661 N.S. by Samuel Pepys

In the drawing-room my host was seated at a grand piano with a couple of candles in front of him and a couple of women behind him.
— from Paris Nights, and Other Impressions of Places and People by Arnold Bennett

We flew down the Sound at a great pace through crowds of porpoises, at which the men tried several futile shots.
— from With Sack and Stock in Alaska by Horatio George Broke

These commandments are, as it were, signals on the infinite road to perfection, toward which humanity walks, signals of that stage of perfection which is possible at a given period of the development of humanity.
— from The Kingdom of God is Within You / Christianity and Patriotism / Miscellanies by Tolstoy, Leo, graf

They went on foot at a good pace, leading the horses.
— from The Pharaoh and the Priest: An Historical Novel of Ancient Egypt by Bolesław Prus